Chapter 11 - The Chair
Clint could only stare at Bucky in horror as the guards loaded him up into the very old quinjet. After someone had hit Bucky with something akin to Mjolnir, they had given him a sedative. Under command, Clint couldn't even attempt to help unless directed to. That didn't mean he didn't try. After Bucky went out, the person in control, a Captain Kirk or something, ordered the archer to carry Bucky to the jet and then head inside.
"Luchnik, sit here," 'Kirk' ordered. Clint dropped down into the seat and was surprised when some more guards came over and completely locked him into the chair. If they had control over him, why would they do that? Did they think the control would break? Could it break?
"Sir, do you want him drugged as well?" Clint's eyes twitched to see it was one of the guards that had been dealing with Bucky. He was staring at Clint with a cautious and fearful gaze. The Sergeant was already laid on one of the healing tables, strapped tightly in.
"No. He should be fine," 'Kirk' admitted. Clint mentally snarled. What the fuck? This was the third god damn time that Hydra had gotten a hold of him. Twice since being in Wakanda. So much for it being a safe haven. T'Challa was gonna be pissed. Hell, Clint was pissed. If Wakanda wasn't safe, where would be?
"Kurt, Commander Rumlow says that he'll be waiting at station JRR542 dash 15," a person from the front called. Oh, Kurt, not 'Kirk.'
"Tell Brock that we're on our way."
The flight was boring and short. Not even long enough for Bucky to wake from the first sedative. So that meant they more than likely were still in Africa. Well, if T'Challa wouldn't be pissed before, likely he'd be pissed now. Hydra was almost in his backyard. Four guards handled getting Bucky off the floor and out of the jet. Two worked on undoing the various locks and such that had been holding Clint down.
"Luchnik, come with me," Kurt demanded once the archer was free. Like before, Clint snapped to attention and quickly followed after the man. The building looked like all other Hydra facilities. Just, bland. Almost like a factory building or something. At this point, Clint was gonna start going around and just destroying these types of buildings in the hopes that he'd finally finish Hydra off. Kurt followed after the guards holding Bucky for most of the journey. When they got close to what could be either the Chair room or a holding cell, he turned off and Clint was forced to follow, not even able to see where Bucky was going. Mentally, he gritted his teeth.
"I knew that plan would work," Rumlow gloated as soon as Kurt let Clint into what the archer could now presume was the main office. "Did the Asset try the deprogramming again?"
"From what I heard, yes, he attempted it," Kurt replied. Wait, so that had been an actual code? Why didn't it work the second time? Rumlow smiled.
"And?"
"Not even a twitch," Kurt said. Rumlow laughed, moving to stand in front of Clint. The archer tried to growl angrily at the man even though he knew it wouldn't work. With a smug little smirk, Rumlow reached out and stroked a finger along Clint's cheek. Clint felt ice run through him. Dear lord, he was at this guy's whim. At least Loki never sexually touched him (even if Tony's father's machine made him think the trickster had). But Rumlow. He's always been a sick fuck.
"Guess it was a good idea not to give him a lasting shut off code," the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agent reported. Clint was surprised to actually feel himself pale. He was going to be stuck like this? Forever?
"I'm still not certain that was a good idea. The Asset needed one for a reason," Kurt mumbled. Rumlow waved the man off and Clint couldn't help the shiver than ran up his back. This was getting worse and worse.
"Luchnik, let's go check on the Asset, see if he's primed to go," Rumlow chuckled before turning and walking off, Clint only a step behind him. As Clint's new 'boss' led the archer through the Hydra base, the archer made sure to pay attention to everything he could see. From each turn, to the amount of men and women he passed and their weapons. It wasn't the highest packed base that Clint had ever been in. Certainly wasn't the lowest but still, it was enough that he doubted Bucky and him would be able to escape on their own. Now it was just a matter of the others finding them. If they'd even notice they had gone missing.
It didn't take long before Rumlow was able to lead Clint to a very familiar room. Apparently no matter where the base was, they kept the Chair room looking the absolute same. Must have been so that Bucky would never be able to tell the difference between one place and the next. Made sense even if it was annoying. Bucky was already strapped into the Chair and was thrashing as much as he could. Rumlow sighed, pointing a finger to the corner of the room nearest the door and away from any of the important machinery for the Chair. Clint immediately found himself standing to attention in that spot.
"Might as well just stop fighting," the apparent leader growled. Bucky's eyes snapped over to the new members of the room. Clint mentally screamed out at the man but his body did nothing. Bucky growled, his eyes having quickly flicked to Clint before focusing on Rumlow.
"Let us go!" Bucky snapped as if he had any power of what was going on. Rumlow laughed.
"We already have Barton under our control. With just a few wipes to yourself, we'll have both of you."
"The others will break us out of here," Bucky snarled, jerking on the restraints. Rumlow shook his head before focusing on the techs who had been steadily working on the side of the room to ready the Chair. Bucky looked over to Clint. "Luchnik!"
"It won't work," Rumlow chuckled. Bucky gritted his teeth.
"Luchnik, come release me," Bucky ordered. There was a moment of hesitation where Clint honestly didn't think he'd move, but then slowly, his body stepped forward. Almost as if uncertain of what order to follow.
"Luchnik! Back where you were!" Rumlow shouted. Clint's body stilled but didn't return. "You will not take orders from the Winter Soldier!"
"Luchnik, come release me," Bucky tried again. Clint was able to focus his gaze onto the Sergeant, praying that his body would ignore Rumlow. But, he didn't move in either direction. Clint screamed in his head. Why did things have to go this difficult? Couldn't they catch a damn break?
"Luchnik! Obey me!" Rumlow directed. Clint found his head twitching to the side, aiming an ear at Rumlow, but still he didn't move back to the corner. Bucky's gaze turned soft and sad.
"Luchnik, please," the Sergeant whispered. That was apparently what broke the dam. There was a rush of something that flew over Clint's body and suddenly, he was once again in control. For half a second, Clint had no idea what to do, but then it clicked. He needed to get them out of there. While it would be smart to get Bucky out of the Chair, first the archer had to deal with Rumlow. Spinning quickly, Clint attacked. Rumlow hardly had a moment to understand what happened before Clint was on him. The archer threw a punch to the agent's face and Rumlow nearly went down. As he fell, Clint snapped out his other hand to grab the other man's shirt and toss him backwards. Rumlow hit the other wall before collapsing on the ground. Clint turned to the techs.
"Release him," the archer demanded. One of the techs nodded and hit a button. The locks on the Chair all released as one and Bucky jumped out of the seat. Clint turned to look at the soldier when there was suddenly a loud crack of gunfire. The men paused before Clint noted there was some pain in his side. He turned to look. Rumlow had shot him just above his hip. Unsure what to think about that, Clint faced the man. Bucky did as well, ready to attack but Rumlow simply shifted his aim.
"Don't even think about it," the agent hissed. Before Clint or Bucky had a chance to do anything, the door to the room busted open and guards entered. In the moment of confusion, the guards subdued both Clint and Bucky. Rumlow got to his feet, glaring daggers at Clint. "You are becoming a pain in my ass."
"I thought your head was too far up there for you to notice," Clint snipped. Bucky's gaze twitched to the archer. Was Clint seriously bating this guy? Rumlow raised his gun again but was too close for either man to see exactly where he was aiming for. "Gonna give me a prize?"
"Longing," Rumlow replied. Clint stiffened. "Rusted."
"It won't stick!" Clint told the agent as he ignored his body's desire to listen to what was being said. Bucky began straining against the guards holding him.
"Seventeen, Daybreak," Rumlow continued, unconcerned. Now Clint began trying harder to escape even though it was getting hard to focus. There was a sudden pain in the back of his head as someone slammed a gun into it. Beside him was a grunt of pain which meant Bucky had just gotten the same treatment. "Furnace, Nine."
"We're going to get out of here! You can't hold us!" Bucky cried. Rumlow snarled at him but his eyes didn't leave Clint who was beginning to feel himself slipping. Only four more words left.
"Benign," Rumlow added as Clint shook his head. No, he wasn't going to go back down. Bucky let out a roar of anger that stopped when he was struck again and in his daze, the guards quickly dragged him to the Chair. "Homecoming."
"No," Clint whimpered, his gaze shifting to focus on Bucky who was coming too just in time for the locks to active once again.
"One," Rumlow stated seconds before the room shook with an explosion. Everyone stilled. Another rumble and Rumlow cussed. "How did they find us so quickly?"
"Sir, what should we do?" a tech asked, shifting as if they wanted to just run from the room. Rumlow looked to see that Bucky was set up in the Chair once again. Then he looked back to Clint, who was still a bit lost in a daze. One more word away from being activated again.
"Get that thing on," Rumlow demanded before shifting his gun and shooting two bullets. The pain brought Clint out of the control as his legs gave way beneath him. If not for the guards holding him, he'd be on the ground. Bucky struggled, fighting as someone shoved the bite guard into his mouth. No, no! "You two, watch him. Don't let him leave. Shoot him if he tries."
"Sir," one of the men acknowledged as the other guards released Clint. Just as Rumlow and the extra guards left the room, Clint heard Bucky scream. He looked over in despair and watched as the Chair began to erase Bucky Barnes once again.
"Does he seriously think we can keep him down?" the second guard 'softly' asked his buddy, nodding to Clint, who had yet to move. His legs hurt far to much to attempt movement. A tech that wasn't focused on the machines came over, a needle in their hand.
"This is a sedative. Should keep him down," the tech informed. Clint jerked, shifting to try and get away even though the three gun shot wounds to his body protested greatly. "Once this first one is done, he's gonna go in next."
"Clint? Clint?" a voice distantly called. Clint groaned to himself, trying to figure out what was going on. "Come on man. We need you to wake up."
"Wha?" Clint wondered, cracking an eye open. Sam was there in front of him, looking highly concerned.
"Hydra is everywhere and we need to get you out of here. Wanda already has Bucky," Sam quickly informed. Clint grunted. Getting out of here sounded amazing. Nodding, Clint shifted to get up but stopped and hissed in pain as his wounds reiterated that they were still not fully healed. "Shit, you're hurt?"
"Gun... Three," Clint groaned, unsure if Sam could see anything. Sam let out another cuss before leaning down to pick the archer up off the ground. The pain had Clint hiss once again but it wasn't as bad as normal gun shot wounds were for the archer. He glanced down to see the one above his hip looked already partway closed and both his legs weren't even attempting to bleed. Huh, super soldier serum to the rescue. "Bucky?"
"Dazed but okay," Sam replied as they started moving. Clint nodded again, closing his eyes to ignore the pain. He'd gone through worse before. He can do it again now. Just needed to focus on something else. "I swear, we had no idea-"
"Sam, stop. Please. Hydra is everywhere. Nothing we can do about it. It's why Bucky had his words removed before," Clint muttered, pausing every now and then to get his thoughts in order. Sam frowned at that. Something was wrong with the archer. "Let's just get out of here. We'll deal with the rest later."
Clint nodded and did his best to follow Sam as the air-man led him away from the Chair room. "How much did Bucky lose?"
"Wanda said not much. Just apparently right after the Return," Sam replied. Clint frowned. He lost nine months. That wasn't so bad. Be easy to get them all back. Clint could only sigh in relief. He would have felt so guilty if Bucky had lost any more memories.
"Place cleared out?" Clint questioned. Sam have a huff of laughter.
"T'Challa, Okoye, Rhodes, Lang, and Van Dyne are doing it. Wanda and I needed to get to you both," Sam reported. Clint frowned.
"Why didn't you take Bucky?"
"Bucky told me to stay with you," Sam admitted. Clint's frown deepened even as he furrowed his brows. Bucky wanted Sam to stay with Clint? Why? Bucky, he thought, had been closer with Sam than with Wanda. So, why?
"Why?"
"I don't know. Just followed what he asked. Kinda don't want to piss off a super soldier," the air-man joked. Clint snorted and looked up. To his surprise, they were already at the Wakandan jet. Wanda and Bucky were inside, the former standing at the end of the ramp and the latter sitting on the first seat that could still see outside. At the sight of the archer, Bucky's body relaxed and the soldier gave him a soft smile. "You know how the others doing?"
"They should be done soon and T'Challa plans on blowing the place up so no one can use it again," Wanda answered. Sam smiled as he helped Clint onto the jet. Bucky patted the seat beside him and Sam, without questioning it, plopped the archer down in the seat. To Bucky's and Clint's surprise, the archer leaned himself onto the Sergeant but while still surprised, neither of them moved away.
"Good, the sooner we get out of here the better," Sam stated before he walked out of the jet to look out for their friends. Wanda joined him. Mostly alone now, Bucky gently nudged Clint in the side.
"You okay?" the soldier wondered. Clint furrowed his brow, intent on giving him a serious answer rather then his normal 'just fine' that he tended to use. It took a bit before Clint realized that he seriously wasn't fine. He shook his head no. Bucky stilled for a second. The motion finally had Clint pull away and they looked at each other. As Bucky went to ask what was wrong, Clint spoke.
"Not really. Rumlow said something about me never being able to get rid of the trigger words. Shuri and Wanda can never help. I'll always be like this." Bucky grimaced. He knew that feeling. Knew what it was like, walking around, waiting for someone to call out the words and make him kill his friends. It wasn't a good feeling. It was fucking terrifying. "I'm gonna have to be locked up. Left somewhere that no one could get me. Or maybe frozen in cryo."
"No. We'll figure things out. I swear you will not stay like this forever," Bucky determinedly said. Clint huffed out a disbelieving laugh and looked away. Growling, Bucky gripped Clint's arms, drawing the archer's attention back to him. "I will not let you stay like this. I'll do whatever it takes to fix this."
Clint felt a shiver go up his spine. Maybe Bucky was right. Maybe there was some way, somewhere out there, that he could be 'fixed.' But the real issue, could they find it before Clint got triggered again.
Ha! On time this week!
Everything has been going good. Hubby is spending a bit more time at home which give me the ability to have more time to focus solely on writing as Darius is able to play with him as well now. Had some issues earlier this week when a medication I was taking suddenly had my anxiety sore through the roof to a point where someone opening their mouths pissed me off. I was thankfully able to realize how bad I was before taking it out on Darius but I'm pretty sure I was a bit stricter with him than normal. Yesterday I hadn't gotten any sleep and rather than deal with Darius while tired and easily upset, I walked away. Thankfully, hubby was home.
But Darius has been good all week. Nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that note worthy. Though, we have had a few hilarious conversations lately. Many of which I can't put here cause it'd be taken out of context but still. He's been good. Haven't seen Baby Jason or Baby Aurora so can't say much about them.